Dangerous Game
by ejb
Summary: Tristran returns from a scouting trip and gets involved in another battle.


I don't own any rights to the movie, they belong to those that made it.

Thanks go to my betas for suggestions and corrections for which I am eternally grateful.

Dangerous Game

Tristran rode back to the fort at Cilurnum feeling cold, tired and hungry. A long ride after a scouting trip in the bitterly cold winds of early winter made him almost grateful to see the Roman guards at the gateway as he approached the fort. He looked forward to the food and warmth of the tavern he'd have after stabling his horse and reporting to Arthur what he'd discovered on his latest mission.

On reaching the stable he led his horse into the stall and removed the saddle and bridle along with his own equipment that he had needed for the trip. One of the stable boys filled the food trough with fresh hay and oats and began to rub down the horse to help warm him. Tristran poured some fresh water into the water trough while he did this.

"There, my friend," he said to the horse as he stroked the animal's nose. "You are cold and hungry too. You eat and rest and tomorrow I will give you apples. There are bound to plenty of those after the great feast tonight to celebrate the coming of winter."

Tristran took his battle equipment back to his quarters, then found Arthur in the Great Hall talking with fort's Commanding Officer and gave them his report.

"There are signs of Woad activity about ten miles south of here," he told them. "I don't expect them to move any closer until later tomorrow as tonight they will be having their Samain celebrations."

"At least we know about them and will be prepared," Arthur replied. "We will go out tomorrow and see if they have moved any closer. Good work, Tristran. Get some food and rest now after your journey."

"I'll tell the patrols on the Wall to keep a look out for them during the next few hours just in case they do decide to come nearer," the Commandant told them.

Tristran made his way to the tavern. By the sounds he heard, it was going to be a noisy, lively evening. Sounds of singing and loud laughter were coming from inside as the local people and his brother knights were celebrating the beginning of winter, the feast of Samain.

Tristran found a seat beside Dagonet and poured himself some wine while a serving girl placed a platter of food in front of him.

"Welcome back, Tris. You're just in time to share in all of this good food that the locals have provided," Dagonet said to him. "I've been told that there's plenty of mutton and fowls to eat and other things too. Did you have a pleasant scouting trip?"

Tristran took out his dagger, wiped it on a clean cloth, stabbed a piece of meat and began to eat it.

"Yes and it looks like we will be Woad hunting tomorrow, according to Arthur."

"Best to get some good food and drink into us now then," Dagonet replied. "Glaevin managed to spirit away for us some best wine that was intended for the Roman Commandant.

Glaevin was one of those men who seemed to be able to get anything he needed or wanted from the Roman supplies and divert them to his brother knights or anybody else who needed them, for that matter. He had the gift of a silver tongue and an engaging friendly nature. Before he knew how, the Roman Supply Officer at the fort had been persuaded to part with many good items intended for the Commandant's house. Glaevin then shared these with his brother knights.

Tristran looked over to where Glaevin was sitting with Bors and Gawain. They were gambling with dice and loudly telling jokes and telling tales to anybody who wanted to hear them. By the looks of things, plenty of the best Roman wine had already been consumed by them. Bors and Gawain were losing the game judging by their smaller heaps of coins and Glaevin's larger pile. The younger knights, Galahad and Gareth, were close by and listening, enthralled by the exploits that Glaevin was telling them. Lancelot was leaning against the tavern counter with his arms around one of the serving girls who he'd chosen to spend the evening with, clearly not impressed with Glaevin's boastful tales of battle. He'd found himself a welcome diversion that was more interesting to him.

"Why don't you two give up?" Cuthwin the tanner asked Bors and Gawain. "You won't win, not with the dice he's using."

"Are you accusing me of cheating?" Glaevin asked Cuthwin in a threatening manner.

"Well either those dice are loaded or you have the spirits of the dead that walk this night pushing them so they come up right for you," Cuthwin replied. "I've seen it happen many times before. Best time to get a man's money off him is when he's too drunk to realise what's going on."

Bors glared at Glaevin, "Is it right what he's saying, are these dice loaded?"

"Of course not," Glaevin replied loudly. "I always use these ones and I don't cheat."

"Why don't you call a halt to the game and test them?" Cuthwin suggested. "Get somebody not involved to do it."

"I'll do it," said Edred the carpenter. "I been cheated out of many a game before by loaded dice so I know what to look for now."

The whole tavern grew silent as all eyes were on Edred as he threw the dice and the same numbers came up after ten throws. Edred then gave his verdict. "Without a doubt these dice are loaded."

Bors jumped to his feet with a roar, his seat sent the table behind him flying. Fired up by too much good wine and the realisation that he'd been cheated out of his money, Bors began to fight with Glaevin.

Glaevin did not have time to protest his innocence and defended himself by giving as good as he got. Very soon tables, benches, food, wine and money were being knocked to the floor as the fight gained progress and even those who objected were quickly drawn into the battle, not knowing or caring who was on which side.

Tristran had been enjoying his meal up to that point and had no intention of getting involved. He'd seen this sort of thing happen too often and as long as they left him alone he was happy.

"Do you think we should try and stop them before they kill each other?" Dagonet asked Tristran.

"Lancelot doesn't seem too worried by it," Tristran replied looking over to where Lancelot and his girl were totally unconcerned by what was going on and only had eyes for each other. "No, they won't kill each other and it will stop soon."

Before Dagonet could reply, they were interrupted by Galahad landing face down in Tris's platter of food, knocking over the pitcher of wine which poured out all over Tristran from his chest downwards, soaking him.

Tristran was tired after his scouting trip. Tristran was hungry after the long ride in the cold winds with only basic rations to eat while he was away. Now Tristran was angry that not only was his meal ruined but his clothes were soaked, and dripping with red wine.

Galahad still lay where he had landed in shocked surprise. With his face and hair smeared with Tristran's food, he turned to look at Tristran. He received an angry glare from Tris as he got off the table. Galahad mumbled a quick apology before standing silently beside Dagonet.

The fighting ended suddenly as all eyes turned to look at Tristran and laughter broke out from somebody as they saw what the food and wine had done to him. That somebody was quickly hushed by somebody else who knew it was wise not to get on the wrong side of Tristran.

"All right that's enough," Dagonet said. "Tomorrow we may have a bigger battle to fight, if what Tristran has seen while he was out comes to pass. There are Woads close by; it is them we will be fighting tomorrow."

The rest of the knights heard this news and knew then what could well ensue tomorrow after a real battle. They had lost too many brothers in such battles and it could be any one of them that could be killed or badly wounded the next day.

A serving girl brought Tristran a cloth to clean himself. "Would you like some more food?" she asked.

Tristan was still hungry and the food offered was exceptionally good tonight and he had been enjoying it. He had been thinking of going back to his quarters and getting away from the rest of his brother knights but he knew they would be laughing about what had happened to him as soon as his back was turned. Then one by one they would come to see him and talk with him and he would get no peace. So he thought the best option was to stay and continue his meal, knowing the rest of them would not dare laugh at him while he was there.

He cleaned himself with the cloth and nodded in answer to the serving girl's question.

The others began to pick up the strewn tables and benches and clear up the spilt food. Not much wine had been spilt as a lot had been drunk already but the empty pitchers were broken, adding to the mess.

For all of his slight cuts and bruises from the fight, Bors was willing to put it behind him and enjoy the rest of the evening. He called Vanora and some of the other women to liven things up again by singing songs to entertain them.

Bors now sat with Gawain and Galahad and things settled down when more food and wine was served to everybody. They began to eat some food that was brought to them and to drink from a fresh pitcher of wine.

Glaevin, wanting to keep his distance from Bors, came to sit with Tristran and Dagonet.

"Sorry you got that wine down you, Tris, but at least the Romans didn't get the chance to drink it either," he smiled.

"What was all that about you cheating?" Dagonet asked.

"I wasn't cheating," Glaevin protested. "I don't know how that carpenter did that trick with the dice to prove I was. I aim to find out though tomorrow."

"It will cause ill feeling between you and Bors," Tristran told him.

"Gawain won't be very happy with you either," Dagonet added. "Not a good idea to go into battle with the Woads tomorrow with that between the three of you."

"I won't let it come between us in battle," Glaevin assured them.

"I'll have a quiet word with Bors tomorrow when he's sobered up; no good bringing the subject up now," Dagonet replied.

Soon the evening in the tavern reverted to the normal noisy happy atmosphere as more wine was drunk and Bors proposed a toast to the Romans for supplying it. Then somebody proposed a toast to Sarmatia, followed by toasts to celebrate the spirits of the dead who would be walking that evening. Finally a toast was made for the knights and the battle that was to be fought the next day.

Tristran was also enjoying the feast and pleased he'd stayed in the tavern instead of going to his quarters. Most of the other knights had already forgotten about his little 'accident' as the wine took hold of them.

Eventually, filled with good food and wine, the evening drew to a close and the knights staggered back to their quarters, some staggering worse and needing to be helped there by the others.

Fortunately the summons from Arthur was not until the afternoon of the next day so they all had time to sleep off the events of the previous evening. The Woads had moved closer to the fort, so it was reported, and the knights were all assembled to ride out for battle.

It did not take long to find the Woads, who were not too great in number to be a serious threat, and the skirmish was over quickly with a victory for the knights. There were one or two injuries amongst them but nothing life threatening. Glaevin's had been the worst when his horse was killed by a Woad spear and he had been unseated and hit his head as he fell. Bors who was nearest saw what had happened and quickly got him up and out of the danger of being trampled by the other horses. All resentment being gone over what had happened the night before in the tavern, he instinctively wanted to protect a brother knight in danger. Whilst he did this, Tristran finished off any nearby Woads who were a threat.

Later back in the fort at Cilurnum, Bors went to see Glaevin who was resting in his quarters after he'd been brought back. Gawain was busy giving him some broth that would be easy for him to digest after his fall.

"How are you feeling now?" Bors asked Glaevin as he looked anxiously at him.

"'I'll mend but I already had an almighty headache to start with after last night," Glaevin answered with a weak smile. "Now it's been doubled."

Bors laughed, "You look in a better shape than those Woads, that's for sure."

"I heard about the rest of the battle from Gawain here," Glaevin answered and looked intently at Bors. "Thanks for what you did for me."

"Only what I would expect you to do for any of us," Bors replied. "Too bad about your horse though."

"I need to speak with you both about what happened last night," Glaevin said looking from Gawain to Bors and back again. "Firstly I do not cheat, in spite of what that tanner said. I've discovered the truth about him."

"What truth?" Bors asked.

"Somebody in the vicas told me this morning that he is very cunning and a pick-pocket. He deftly managed to switch my dice for loaded ones before we began to play." Glaevin told them. "If you remember he had suggested we three have a game of dice when we got there. He and that carpenter work together and as soon as trouble is stirred up and fights break out, they steal the money while nobody notices and sneak out They've done it before to unsuspecting men who have had too much to drink."

"I suppose that carpenter even makes the loaded dice too," Gawain said.

"At least the tanner was right about one thing," Bors said with a grim smile.

"What's that?" Glaevin asked.

"He said it was the best time to take money off a man when he was too drunk to see what was going on," Bors replied. "They took our money alright while we were too busy fighting and we never saw them in the tavern after that."

"Now that we know about them, we'll get them involved in another dice game and keep a look out for when they switch the dice," Gawain suggested to them. "Then we can get our money back."

"Best not do it when we've had too much to drink, especially if it's the Romans' best wine," Bors answered.

"That Roman wine was certainly good stuff," Glaevin said. "I'll try and get some more for the winter solstice festival."

"We'll have to make sure Tristran puts it inside his stomach, and not outside, the next time though," Bors laughed. "It's far too good to wash clothes in."

They laughed at the memory of seeing Tristran standing glaring at them all while the wine trickled down his legs on to the floor.

"I'll go now so you can finish your food and get some rest," Bors said as he went out of the door. He was grateful that he'd had the chance talk to Glaevin and that the friendship and trust between them was renewed.

Glaevin was also thankful that his life had been spared, especially with the help of his friend and brother knight, and after finishing off his broth he sank back on to his pillow and fell into a peaceful sleep.

The end

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7


End file.
